Spray mist assist system for a liquid pump sprayer

ABSTRACT

A spray mist assist assembly for a liquid sprayer utilizes an auxiliary blower positioned below the sprayer&#39;s nozzle. The positioning of the blower in vertical alignment with but in vertically spaced relation below the nozzle permits the mist expelled from the nozzle to extend farther from the sprayer to enhance the performance of the sprayer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application relates and claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 63/177,564 filed Apr. 21, 2021, the entiretyof which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is directed generally to a spray mist assistsystem for a liquid pump sprayer.

BACKGROUND

Many convenient and relatively inexpensive cordless home lawn and gardensprayers are designed to be held and operated with one hand. As shown inFIG. 1, the liquid to be sprayed is contained in a bottle that iscoupled to a housing assembly comprised of the batteries, electricmotor, and liquid pump. A handle grip, incorporating a power switch, isintegral to the housing. The nozzle is typically adjustable, enablingthe spray output to vary between fine mist and coarse stream settings.

This format of handheld sprayer relies exclusively on the pressuresupplied by the liquid pump to produce an intended effective spray mistapplication distance. It is understood that the greater the liquidpressure provided by the pump, the farther will be the resulting spraymist distance. For home lawn and garden sprayers, especially forapplying a fine mist spray for outdoor mosquito control, the overallspray distance is an important aspect: an effective application distanceenables the operator to safely and efficiently penetrate into and aroundthe foliage where mosquitos reside.

FIG. 2 illustrates the relative functional impact of pump pressure onthe effective spray mist application distance. Here, the effective spraydistance for a mist application is represented as the length of anexpanding conical spray pattern. As is well understood, Sprayer 1 with a20 psi liquid pump produces an effective spray distance D1 that is lessthan the spray distance D2 produced by Sprayer 2 with a 40 psi pump. Itshould also be noted that Sprayer 2 would be more expensive to producethan Pump 1.

An equally important capability for the sprayer is the focused controlof the spray mist pattern, along and to the extent of the intendedeffective mist distance. For both sprayers shown in FIG. 2, the effectof gravity causes the mist pattern to dissipate and lose focus —described herein as pattern dispersion or “fallout”. This falloutresults in a loss of application efficiency; in this example of mistingfor mosquito control, the mist fallout pattern schematicallycharacterizes the proportional distribution and volume of theinsecticide that, due to gravity, falls short and does not reach theintended effective mist distance to the target foliage.

With attempts to optimize the effective mist distance for a given liquidpump sprayer, a conventional auxiliary air “blower” fan is oftenemployed.

Referring to FIG. 3, a prior art liquid pump sprayer, Sprayer 3, isshown that employs an axial air fan blower (note A) in order tobeneficially reach the intended spray distance for misting. Note thatAir Outlet Nozzle (note B) centralizes the airstream flow path (note C)around the liquid outlet spray nozzle (note D). For such sprayers thatemploy an auxiliary fan, the sprayer would resultantly be moreexpensive, and the pump would be correspondingly specified to produce anappropriate liquid pressure. This exemplar sprayer otherwise comprisesthe same basic componentry of those less expensive liquid pump sprayerswithout an auxiliary fan, as previously described and illustrated.

The liquid pump pressure of Sprayer 3, in combination with the auxiliaryaxial fan air blower, does expectedly produce an intended spray mistdistance, D3, that is proportionately greater than the previouslydescribed pumps. However, as shown in FIG. 4, fallout for this sprayeris still exhibited, especially when misting.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate an alternative configuration of a prior artliquid pump sprayer, Sprayer 4, that employs an auxiliary fan in orderto achieve an intended effective spray distance for misting. In thisconfiguration, a radial fan (note E) produces the horizontal airstream(note F) positioned, via the Air Outlet Nozzle (note G), above avertically-oriented liquid spray outlet nozzle (note H). In thisconfiguration, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the horizontally-directedairstream is employed to intersect with and shear thevertically-oriented liquid spray, then propel the liquid spray outwardin the direction of the airstream.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate how the horizontally-directed airstream flowpath (note I) is employed to intersect with and shear thevertically-oriented liquid spray, then propel the resulting liquid spraymist outward in the direction of the airstream (note J).

The radial fan produces a horizontally-oriented airstream directedagainst the vertically-oriented liquid spray with enough power toredirect and propel the liquid spray outward in the direction of theairstream. The sprayer's ability to reach the intended effective mistdistance D4 requires the energy of the airstream itself. As shown inFIG. 7, mist fallout for this sprayer is still exhibited.

FIG. 8 provides a summary of these exemplar prior art sprayerconfigurations and example relative intended effective mist distances.Note that the mist fallout pattern also can vary, depending upon thesprayer characteristics. Indicated for each mist fallout pattern is theineffective mist: that proportion of the mist that, due to gravity,falls short and does not reach the target.

For cordless home lawn and garden sprayers that employ a high pressureliquid pump, operating in combination with an auxiliary blower-type airfan to provide for an intended effective spray distance when spraymisting for mosquito control, there exists a need in the art to minimizethe fallout of spray mist, so a greater proportion of the insecticideefficiently reaches the intended spray distance.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to a spray mist assist system for aliquid pump sprayer.

According to an aspect is a sprayer for spraying a liquid, comprising: anozzle through which the liquid can be expelled in a first directionaway from the sprayer; a fan positioned in vertical alignment with andaxially below the nozzle and for generating an air flow in a seconddirection that is parallel to the first direction; and a fan outletpositioned in the path of the air flow and from which the air isexpelled away from the sprayer.

According to an embodiment, the fan outlet is selectively pivotal aboutthe second direction to selectively adjust the direction of the expelledair flow towards or away from the first direction.

According to an aspect is a sprayer for spraying a liquid, comprising asprayer housing; a nozzle connected to the sprayer housing and throughwhich the liquid can be expelled in a first direction away from thesprayer; a fan positioned within the sprayer housing and including a fanoutlet that extends outside the sprayer housing and is positioned inaxially spaced relation below the nozzle; and wherein the fan is mountedwithin the sprayer housing for selective pivotal movement that causesmovement of the fan outlet towards or away from the nozzle.

These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from theembodiments described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more fully understood and appreciated byreading the following Detailed Description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are illustrating two prior art cordless home lawn andgarden sprayers.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are illustrating relative functional impact of pumppressure on the effective spray mist application distance in a prior artsprayer.

FIG. 3 is illustrating a prior art sprayer having an axial air fanblower.

FIG. 4 is illustrating the intended spray mist distance of the prior artsprayer of FIG. 3.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate alternative configuration of a prior artliquid pump sprayer.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate how the horizontally-directed airstream flowpath is employed to intersect with and shear the vertically-orientedliquid spray, then propel the resulting liquid spray mist outward in thedirection of the airstream in the prior art sprayer of FIGS. 5A and 5B.

FIG. 7 illustrates the mist fallout for the prior art sprayer of FIGS.5A and 5B.

FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate exemplar sprayer configurations and examplerelative intended effective mist distances for the prior art sprayers ofFIG.1 and FIG. 3 and FIGS. 5A and 5B.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a sprayer having a sprayer mist assistsystem, in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the sprayer, in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the sprayer showing the pressurizedliquid flow path from pump to outlet nozzle and resulting spray mistpattern, in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the sprayer showing the parallelorientation and offset spacing of the blower air outlet nozzle withrespect to the spray mist nozzle, in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the sprayer showing a 5-degreeoffset orientation of the blower air outlet nozzle with respect to thespray mist nozzle, in accordance with an embodiment.

FIGS. 14A-14C are each a side elevation view of the sprayer collectivelyshowing the utility of the spray mist assist system, in accordance withan embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure describes a spray mist assist sprayer/system 10comprising an auxiliary radial air fan 12 with a uniquely positioned,oriented, and shaped blower air outlet nozzle 14. This mist assistsystem, in combination with the high pressure liquid pump, reduces theineffective spray mist fallout and thusly improves spraying efficiency,especially when misting for mosquito control. Sprayer 10 includes theconventional elements such as a fluid reservoir 100 (from which liquidto be sprayed is drawn), a user handle 200, and power supplies, such asa battery 300 to provide the necessary power to drive sprayer 10, aswitch 400 to control the level of liquid flow, and an on/off switch500.

The basic layout of this spray mist assist system/sprayer 10 isillustrated in FIG. 9. Note that this sprayer 10 comprises the samebasic componentry of the previously-described conventional liquid pumpsprayer with auxiliary fan air blower 12.

Here, unlike the typical blower air outlet nozzle of Sprayer 3 that ispositioned centrally around and in line with the liquid outlet spraynozzle, or the blower air outlet nozzle of Sprayer 4 that is positionedabove the vertically-oriented liquid outlet spray nozzle, the blower airoutlet nozzle 14 is uniquely shaped and beneficially oriented andpositioned at an offset below the liquid outlet spray nozzle 16.

FIG. 10 illustrates the components that comprise the mist assist system:fan air blower 12, air outlet nozzle 14 and liquid spray mist nozzle 16.Note the elongated width shape of the air outlet nozzle 14.

FIG. 11 shows the pressurized liquid flow path from pump 18 (powered bymotor 20) to outlet nozzle 16 and resulting spray mist pattern, and thebeneficial airstream flow path produced by the air blower 12.

FIG. 12 discloses the preferred parallel orientation and verticallyoffset spacing of the blower air outlet nozzle 14 with respect to thespray mist nozzle 16. Other angular orientations of the air outletnozzle are possible.

FIG. 13 shows an alternate 5-degree offset orientation of the blower airoutlet nozzle 14 with respect to the spray mist nozzle 16. Other angularorientations of the air outlet nozzle are possible. The blower 12 can beselectively pivotal to adjust the direction of the air flow towards oraway from the direction the spray mist nozzle emits liquid.

FIGS. 14A-C illustrate the utility and effectiveness of the spray mistassist system.

FIG. 14A shows the disclosed mist sprayer in operation, but with themist assist system air blower disabled. As would be typical of anymisting sprayer without benefit of the spray mist assist system (aspreviously described, and summarized in FIG. 8), a characteristic mistfallout pattern and concomitant ineffective mist is produced.

FIG. 14B shows the disclosed mist sprayer, now fully operating with themist assist system air blower enabled. The air outlet nozzle,beneficially oriented and positioned at an offset location below theliquid spray mist nozzle, uniquely forms and directs an airstream flowpath that reshapes the mist fallout pattern. As indicated, anow-displaced mist fallout pattern (note K) is established, such thatthe ineffective mist is displaced away from the sprayer and closer tothe intended effective mist distance. In this way the overall mistspraying efficiency is increased as, for example when applyinginsecticide for mosquito control, less mist is lost due to falloutbefore the intended effective mist distance is reached.

FIG. 14C further illustrates this improved efficiency of the disclosedspray mist assist system. Shown here schematically is the volume ofdisplaced mist that would otherwise fall to the ground before reachingthe intended effective mean distance.

While mist fallout cannot be completely eliminated, the efficiency andeffectiveness of misting applications is markedly improved by theapplication of this unique spray mist assist system to a liquid pumpsprayer.

While various embodiments have been described and illustrated herein,those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety ofother means and/or structures for performing the function and/orobtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages describedherein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to bewithin the scope of the embodiments described herein. More generally,those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters,dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant tobe exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials,and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application orapplications for which the teachings is/are used. Those skilled in theart will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routineexperimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments describedherein. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoingembodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within thescope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, embodiments may bepracticed otherwise than as specifically described and claimed.Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individualfeature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein.In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent,is included within the scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sprayer for spraying a liquid, comprising: a. anozzle through which the liquid can be expelled in a first directionaway from the sprayer; b. a fan positioned in vertical alignment withand axially below the nozzle and for generating an air flow in a seconddirection that is parallel to the first direction; and c. a fan outletpositioned in the path of the air flow and from which the air isexpelled away from the sprayer.
 2. The sprayer according to claim 1,wherein the fan outlet is selectively pivotal about the second directionto selectively adjust the direction of the expelled air flow towards oraway from the first direction.
 3. The sprayer for spraying a liquid,comprising: a. a sprayer housing; b. a nozzle connected to the sprayerhousing and through which the liquid can be expelled in a firstdirection away from the sprayer; c. a fan positioned within the sprayerhousing and including a fan outlet that extends outside the sprayerhousing and is positioned in axially spaced relation below the nozzle;and d. wherein the fan is mounted within the sprayer housing forselective pivotal movement that causes movement of the fan outlettowards or away from the nozzle.